What is Fuchs's endothelial dystrophy?
Fuchs endothelial dystrophy is a degenerative corneal disease, an anterior eye that covers the iris and pupil. This disease is named after the Austrian ophthalmologist who first described it in 1910, Ernst Fuchs. Fuchs endothelial dystrophy is diagnosed more often in women than in men and usually does not cause vision problems up to 50 or 60 years of the patient, although early signs of the disease may occur in the age of 30. The disease is genetic, although it can be impaired by trauma into the eye or surgery.
Fuchs endothelial dystrophy is due to the degeneration of the corneal endothelium, the innermost membrane of the cornea. The cells in this membrane are responsible for drawing fluid accumulation to make the cornea clean. Fuch's dystrophy is characterized by thickening the collagen layer of the cornea, a descenete membrane, which eventually leads to coronal edema or swelling and loss of vision.
Symptoms of Fuchs Endothelial Dystrophy is often the worst morning and falls afterAll day, because fluids cause swelling more easily when the eyes are open. As the disease progresses, the vision remains blurred throughout the day. In later stages, the accumulation of fluid in the cornea can also cause painful blisters.
The first line of treatment for endothelial dystrophy Fuchs includes the methods of drying of the cornea. This includes topical physiological solution, therapeutic soft contact lenses and the use of hair dryer. The last method requires holding a dryer set with a fan at low and cold temperature, on the side of the face to make it gentle. These methods of treatment of endothelial fuchs dystrophy merely alleviate symptoms and are not drugs for this disease.
The only contemporary treatment for Fuchs dystrophy is the corneal transplant surgery, and also call keratoplasty. There are many different forms of this operation that has improved significantly in recent years. TraditionallyThe most common keratoplasty was replaced by the whole cornea. Other operations, including lamellar keratoplasty and Descemet's stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK), in which only part of the cornea is replaced. One of the latest methods, endothelial keratoplasty of the membrane (DMEK), is less invasive than other options, because it includes transplantation only by the descene membrane. Every patient with endothelial fuchs dystrophy should talk to a specialist about what type of surgery is the best.